Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime
by VietAngel
Summary: Christmas with the Torres-Sloan family.  Love, laughs, and a little bit of chaos.


**Title:** Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime (1/?)  
><strong>Author:<strong> vietangel80  
><strong>Pairing:<strong> Mark/Callie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13  
><strong>Summary:<strong> Christmas with the Torres-Sloan family. Love, laughs, and a little bit of chaos.

**Author's Note:** I started this story a couple of years ago and I'm just getting around to finishing the first chapter.

**Disclaimer:** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.

Soft, warm breasts pressed against his back…cold nose nuzzling the back of his neck…then a soft kiss between his shoulder blades and an arm snaking around his torso. Always the same. It was their routine. If he'd been the one to wake up first he'd be doing the same thing to her. If there was a better way to start the morning, he didn't want to know about it.

"Good morning," Mark whispered-voice still gravelly from sleep -while he reached back to affectionately squeeze her thigh. Finally prying his eyes open, he glanced at the clock. Just after five. "What are you doing up so early?"

"My family is coming over, remember?" Callie said softly, sniffling. "I promised to cook breakfast for everyone since my parents are bringing dinner."

He didn't respond, but rolled over to face her…wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her closer until she was warm and snuggly against his chest. He pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead and ran his hand up to the back of her neck.

"Merry Christmas," he said. Burying her head in his chest was her reply and he knew she was still sleepy and a little under the weather. It had been a long and exhausting night of assembling toys—longer for her than for him. After hours of trying to assemble Barbie houses and accessories he'd started to become frustrated, which in turn frustrated Callie enough for her to banish him to their bedroom. She was always better than him with assembling things anyway. She'd finally crawled into bed only a few hours ago.

"Cold" she whispered as she buried her feet beneath his legs.

"Hey lady, I thought we agreed you would keep those icebergs under wraps?" he questioned as he disentangled himself and sat up. Leaning over her, he peered over the edge of the bed and found the objects he'd been searching for crumpled on the floor. He shook his head and chuckled at the sight. No matter what the temperature or how well tucked the covers were when they went to bed, Callie always ended up with her feet sticking out of the covers. He had thought socks would be the perfect remedy, but apparently she'd kicked them off in her sleep. He reached over to pick them up and slid them back on her feet. They were black and white striped knee socks with little Jack Skellington heads on the sides. Her complete lack of embarrassment was one of the many things about her that amazed him. She had never been ashamed of the little things that make her happy, and if it was within his power, she never would be.

He slipped back beneath the warmth of the covers and spooned against her, nuzzling his nose in her hair...it smelled amazing as always. No matter what was going wrong with his day, that scent always made everything better. That scent was the smell of home and love and everything that was good in the world to him. He slipped his hand between their bodies and skimmed the smooth plane of her back to see if the fever she'd spiked during the night was still present. She was warm, but not burning up.

"Are you feeling any better?" he whispered as he placed a kiss behind her ear.

"A little," she replied sleepily. He wasn't buying it considering how hoarse and congested she sounded, but he wasn't going to call her on it.

For some unknown reason, she managed to be sick on just about every holiday. According to her parents, Callie's inevitable illnesses had practically become part of the Torres family Christmas tradition. Of course he didn't like when his wife wasn't feeling well, but Mark was thankful that she was now able to spend the holiday at home with their family instead of spending it at the hospital working. When she'd shown up to the hospital on Christmas Eve flushed and feverish, Chief Webber had promptly marched her back out the doors and ordered her not to return for at least a week. As if on cue, their youngest daughter began to cry over the baby monitor and he was shaken from his thoughts.

"I'll get her," she said coughing while struggling to open her eyes and push herself into a sitting position. "I have to go start breakfast anyway."

"No, no…stay…get a few more hours of sleep," Mark said, springing out of bed before she could. "You're never going to feel better if you don't rest. I'll take care of the hell spawn, and I promise to wake you in plenty of time to get breakfast done."

She wanted to protest, but her aching body was making it very clear that sleep was what it wanted. She knew she might as well enjoy her last few moments of relative peace and quiet before her family arrived. She flashed her husband a lazy grin and nodded in agreement. He leaned down to give her a quick peck on the lips, but looked at her questioningly when she tugged at his shirt as he tried to pull away.

"Maaaark," she whined, pouting childishly for effect. Finally, he realized what she wanted and ripped the Guns n' Roses tee he'd slept in off his back and slipped it over her head. Mark just laughed and shook his head…it was another one of their things. He made sure she was all tucked in and cozy before planting a kiss at her temple and whispering "I love you" in her ear. She was out faster than he could grab another shirt to wear. Before heading out he just had to take a moment to stop and watch her sleep. She was so beautiful. Congested, flushed, with runny nose and all…she still stopped his heart every time he looked at her. He smiled as he finally left to go retrieve their baby girl, knowing that if Callie had known what he was just thinking she would have teased him mercilessly for being so sentimental. Shaking his head, he knew it was going to be a very merry Christmas.

**TBC...**


End file.
